« Trust doesn’t come easily in the gold mines. To have people allow me into their fragile and desperate lives demands a reconsideration of the photographer’s role. (…) As I work I stop to change cameras and share with them the process of making their instant portrait. In the days of street passport photography in Ghana it was called “gyinyahodze,” or “stand and collect.” They get the original positive print, and I get the negative. »

« #StreetsOfAddis began as a hashtag on Berta’s personal Instagram. It later became the theme of an exhibition, and most recently, the foundation for an Ethiopian street photography community. Berta, who’s also part of the @EverydayHornOfAfrica collective, encourages his fellow Addis-based photographers to share their own images for the @StreetsOfAddis Instagram feed.

“The Addis Ababa photo scene is growing,” Berta tells us. The community is steadily increasing as more galleries, events and workshops geared towards photography and photographers pop up. According to Berta, camera phones are allowing more and more Ethiopians to take an interest in photography. “People are realizing that beauty isn’t always about setting up a scene or taking a photo of oneself,” he says. »

« She initially found most of her subjects — lawyers, students, doctors and managers — on the streets of Abidjan. Her sole requirement for the portrait was that the women had to wear traditional clothing already worn by their grandmother or an older female relative. This was intended to “emphasize the link between past and present, and also the cultural heritage,” Ms. Choumali said. Inspired by the golden hues of Rembrandt’s paintings, she handmade a backdrop to give the portraits a “feeling of time travel,” she said. »

« This chapter of my work (NDR : Tracks, 2009-2015) includes both a question and an answer: Why don’t we have a better understanding or recognition of African history? Because African archives are in a mediocre state. »

« Of course, there’s been a strong thread of African artists, like El Anatsui and William Kentridge, in the contemporary art scene for decades. But these days there’s great excitement for young African artists. Their work tends to come cheaper than most of the aforementioned MFA-graduate artworks, and they also offer the chance to consider artwork that has been informed by real issues: murderous, religious fanatics and environmental disasters, for example (not problems like having to sign in and out of multiple Instagram accounts, which, let’s face it, does suck). »

« OB: I’ve always been interested in history, to use history and make people aware of the past and how struggles were conducted. When we started organising ourselves in the trade union movement, history was part of our discussions with workers. We made references to history and how workers in the past had organised, what had happened to those organizations, and why they died.

After 1990, and especially after 1994, a few of us began to talk about building an archive to make the younger generation aware of the past, of the struggle. So people such as Phyllis Naidoo, Govan Mbeki and other friends of mine had this discussion. »

(…) You must remember that my generation of artists, some of us, were concerned about making art a part of black people. We didn’t want it to be seen as something separate from their everyday lives. »

« In a statement released a short while ago, the Trans Collective stated that its « role has now evolved into speaking back to RMF and keeping it accountable to its commitment to intersectionality precisely because it is positioned as a black decolonial space. »

« African Lens is a new magazine founded by creative director Aaron Yeboah Jr. which showcases work by African photographers working in the continent and beyond. Next month, Yeboah is set to move his 2dots Space studio to Ghana, having already published three issues of the magazine from his Louisiana base in the US. He then plans to exhibit African Lens in Ghana and South Africa later on this year. »

« Witness Change was officially launched in June 2015, but Robin has been working on long-term projects that address human rights abuses for more than a decade. In talking about his motivation for starting Witness Change, Robin says, “For years I’ve documented human rights abuses around the world. I hoped my work would improve the lives of people I photographed. Sadly, for most, life remained largely the same. Something was missing. I realized that if making a difference is my goal, to witness and hope is not enough; change must be at the center of what I do. Witness Change was formed by a group of people who refuse to believe things must remain as they are. It was born out of the belief that people care, stories are powerful, and change is possible”. »

« Rwakoma’s life as a photographer of presidents came to an abrupt end during Idi Amin’s regime. He fell out with the powers that be when a picture of the president swimming in a pool was published in the international media. »

Filippo Maggia, the Director of the Fondazione Forografia Modena, Roberto Pisoni, head of Sky Arte HD, and Carla Mainoldi, head of Group Giving, Events & Art Management at UniCredit, presented Mafikeng with the International Photography Prize, which includes € 70,000. »